Chapter Name: The Hague (The Netherlands) By: Air Cdre RNLAF retd. Ir. Gerrit Schoonderbeek
Summary of Meeting: 6 February 2008.
The first meeting of Afcea Chapter The Hague in the year 2008 was organized on 6 February at Kusters Engineering in Venlo, the Netherlands.
Mr. Pierre Hermans, the CEO of Syntech International, which is the holding Company of all Kuster Companies, welcomed the Afcea participants and introduced them to his Company. Kusters Engineering is a world leading engineer and manufacturer of custom designed classified waste and currency disintegration systems.
The philosophy of each Kusters'
system is based on a high degree of operational reliability, an out- standing
norm in security, with an optimal degree of safety and environmental awareness.
Kusters is actively involved in both the research & development as well as
the engineering & production of innovative systems
that have been designed for the future for environmental, economic, technical
and security reasons. Every system is entirely engineered and produced at
Kusters' manufacturing facilities in Venlo, The Netherlands.
Total customer care and commitment to excellence are
Kusters' mission. On this prestigious foundation Kusters Engineering supplies superior
systems that are based on a proven technology. Important steps in any project
are: marketing and sales, supervision / engineering / project management,
production / testing / factory acceptance and training, packaging and shipping,
installation and commissioning, comprehensive training on site, operational and
maintenance manuals, site acceptance, guarantee, service and maintenance,
operational and maintenance spares.
The second speaker, Mr. Xander Wiardi, Technical Sales Manager of Kusters Engineering, started with a corporate video. This was followed by a short overview of the history of Kusters Engineering. Established in 1911 as a small black smith factory, Kusters Engineering began in 1979 with Currency Disintegration Systems (CDS). In 1989 a break-through was reached in the CDS Market, when a large contract was signed with the Bank of England. In 2000 the first Coin Crushing System (CCS) was introduced and in 2004 the IDS (Intelligent Disintegration System) was introduced at the ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) Conference in Dallas, USA, which received full NSA (National Security Agency) approval for the US market in 2005. Also covered were On-line Briquetting Systems (OBS) and Optical Media Disintegrators (OMD).
The last presentation was devoted to TRAIL (a Tracking and Tracing Capability). TRAIL is a security solution that can accommodate the tracking and tracing of high security information media or valuables from their entry into the system till their destruction. It is based on secure packaging, identification tags, reporting, software and hardware fully integrated with Kusters’ disintegration equipment, both for high security information media and for currency and it is offered in co-operation with Brinks Nederland.
At present Kusters Engineering has a client-group consisting of more than 50 Central Banks, banknote printing works, Mints and institutes worldwide covering all continents and installed so far more than 250 systems in the field of Currency and Classified Waste Disintegration technology.
After the presentations, the participants were allowed to visit the main factory. There the manufacturing of the different equipment was shown, followed by a short demonstration. The guided tour was concluded by a lunch in the same area.
Definition of used acronyms:
|
CEO = Chief Executive Officer |
OBS = On-line Briquetting Systems
|
Guest Speaker(s):
|
Speaker’s Full Name |
Position |
Rank |
Organization |
|
Pierre Hermans |
CEO |
Civilian |
Syntech International |
|
Xander Wiardi |
Technical Sales Manager |
Civilian |
Kusters Engineering |
Photograph #1:
Commandeur
RNLN (rtd) Willem Voogt, President of Chapter The Hague,
hands a Certificate-of-Appreciation to Mr Pierre Hermans, CEO of Syntech
International
for the introduction to his Company and for hosting Afcea Chapter The Hague
|
Position |
Full Name |
Rank |
Branch of Service |
Organization |
|
Right |
Willem Voogt |
Commandeur (rtd) |
Royal Netherlands Navy |
President of Chapter The Hague |
|
Left |
Pierre Hermans |
|
CEO |
Syntech International |
Photograph #2:
Mr
Xander Wiardi, Technical Sales Manager of Kusters Engineering,
receives a Certificate-of-Appreciation for his presentation from
Commandeur RNLN (rtd) Willem Voogt, President of Chapter The Hague
|
Position |
Full Name |
Rank |
Branch of Service |
Organization |
|
Right |
Willem Voogt |
Commandeur (rtd) |
Royal Netherlands Navy |
President of Chapter The Hague |
|
Left |
Xander Wiardi |
|
Technical Sales Manager |
Kusters Engineering |